Walking Across The World For Climate Justice with Push!
Veteran Campaigner sets out on Epic Walk for COP26
Climate change campaigner and veteran walker, Pushpanath (‘Push’) Krishnamurthy set out from Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Parliament Square Saturday 2nd October en route to Glasgow to the international Climate Change Summit (COP26), 1st – 12th November.
Push’s, who will be 70 in January, 400-mile (650km) walk, will finish in Glasgow on 2nd November. He will be walking on average 15 miles (25kms) a day.
He will be stopping in Keswick and holding a talk on 23rd October 7pm at The Pencil Factory (Conference Room) about his Epic Walk for COP26.
Entry is FREE (local parking available for 2 hours at £2.50)
The event is co-hosted by Sustainable Keswick, Oxfam and Keswick Fairtrade Campaign.
More details about Push below
‘Because he is a good friend to so many here,’ said Joe Human, who, along with Jenny Baker in Windermere, is coordinating a full programme of talks and visits while he is in Cumbria, ‘there will have to be a bit of ferrying by car to get him from one venue to another, but once he leaves Keswick, he’ll be on foot again.’
Plans include visits to 5 schools (three in South Lakeland and two in Keswick), as well as two Oxfam shops (in Ambleside and Keswick). He will also give two talks (in Kendal and Keswick).
Push, who previously worked for Oxfam for 29 years, said before setting out: ‘My walk is about making sure that the voices of those most impacted by the climate crisis are heard. So, I shall be sharing stories and inspiration with whoever will listen. I have walked and campaigned in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries – countries that have contributed the least to climate change, but who are the ones suffering most from its effects. With COP26 just a few weeks away there has never been a more urgent time to demand action on climate.’
In December 2009, Push embarked on his first long walk – his ‘Walk for Climate Justice’ – from Oxford, UK, to Copenhagen, Denmark, to raise awareness of the issues of climate change and poverty in advance of the UN conference on climate change in Copenhagen, COP15.
In 2011, he repeated this effort in another Walk for Climate Justice in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, to call attention to the plight of small producers such as coffee growers in an era of climate change. This walk reached 30,000 people directly, and through radio he was able to reach a million listeners a day!
In 2012 he walked in the UK to promote Oxfam’s ‘Grow’ campaign on Fair Trade, telling the stories of Coffee Growers in India. He undertook another climate justice walk in India in 2015/16 during the Paris COP 21. This covered 450 km from the Bay of Bengal to the hills of Ooty and resulted in the first Fair Trade towns being declared in India and in South Asia.
In the 12 years since his first walk to Copenhagen Push has taken over 31 million steps and reached over 400,000 people directly – farmers, teachers, lawyers, environmentalists, organic associations, and Fairtrade producers.
But what is also true, 12 years on, is that the devasting effects of climate change are even more apparent with extreme weather wrecking lives, homes and livelihoods, and pushing people deeper into poverty. The climate summit in Glasgow is a critical make or break moment for global leaders to commit to decisive action to cut carbon emissions and to support countries that are hit hardest by the effects of the climate crisis.
‘We are incredibly lucky to have him linger so long in Cumbria,’ said Joe Human. ‘And it’s our aim to get as many people as possible to hear him. They can do this at his two public meetings. First at the Quaker Meeting House in Kendal on Thursday 21st October at 7.30. Space is limited, so please contact Ann Le Mare (annlemare@gmail.com). And then in Keswick on Saturday, 23rd October at 7.30 in the Conference Room at the Pencil Factory. This will be jointly hosted by Sustainable Keswick, Oxfam and Keswick and District Fair Trade Campaign.
To follow Push’s progress as he makes his way to Glasgow, stopping at Oxfam shops along the way, visit www.gopushgo.co.uk or support Push by sending him a video message on social media and using #GoPushGo.
The public can also get involved by embarking on their own challenge with the virtual World Climate March and pledging to walk or run 1.5km – representing the 1.5°C temperature rise that all governments have agreed is the maximum safe limit for global warming as established by the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015. www.worldclimatemarch.org